Study in Greek
by Art of Looking Sideways
Summary: Bella is an FBI inspector and forensics specialist. Edward and her have a history, on the night of his marriage proposal, she refuses and walks out of his life with no explanation. A year later a series of murder cases force them to work together.
1. Chapter 1 The Case

Chapter 1. The Case

BPOV

"Ugh, shut up, shut up, shut up, you fucking piece of crap!" I grunted and threw a pillow at my phone, as it continued to ring. I looked at my alarm clock and saw the glowing numbers 4:19, mocking me with their neon red light. The phone continued to ring. I swear, someone must have a fucking death wish to be calling me at this hour. I turned the other way throwing the covers over my head, allowing the screeching noise to carry on. I knew sooner or later this annoying person would give up, and as predicted within a minute it stopped. My relief was short lived. Just as I got comfortable again, the fucking thing started up. There are two main reasons why someone would call at four in the morning. One, they are drunk to the point of oblivion, which lets hope to God for their sake is not the case, or two there is some sort of an emergency. Even in my barely conscious state I weighed the options and figured it was far more likely the second. Lets be honest, no one would be calling me over and over if they knew what was good for them. Unless of course it was my idiotic sister Nessie needing a ride home due to overconsumption of alcohol. I threw a miniature tantrum before I flung myself at the damn phone.

"What? This better be fucking good, and if this is Vanessa...fuck you, call a cab!"

"Bella, it's Angela, I am sorry to wake you up, but...we have a situation. Senator Newton was found dead an hour ago at the steps of the Museum of Modern Art."

Option two it was, I remained silent

"Ben, Brady and I are headed to the scene now, the chief insists that you get there at once; detective Price will be there as well, she left a little bit ago."

Oh joy, nothing better than a dose of Victoria Price first thing in the morning.

"I'll be there in thirty." I hung up and stretched one more time, enjoying my bed for a few minutes. Even though calls like that are basically second nature to me at this point, I always question my career choice when they happen at four in the morning. I do love my job, I am 27 years old, investigator and forensics specialist for the FBI. Basically it is a fancy way of saying, people getting killed is what pays the bills around here. I looked at my alarm clock again and decided to finally get my ass up before the chief and Price have an aneurysm, no matter how appealing that idea was.

"Well, well, well Swan, we were beginning to worry that whoever did a number on the Senator got to your ass as well." Victoria said as I approached her, she didn't even turn to look at me, kept her head buried in that damn notepad of hers. How the hell did she even know it was me? I swear the bitch has some supernatural sensing abilities, fucking creepy is what it was.

"Keep dreaming, Price," I said curtly and turned my attention to Angela "What do we have here?" I asked as I pulled the apple I had grabbed on my way out, earning a few looks from Ben and Brady.

"What are you two starring at? I'm hungry. I process information better when I have eaten, proceed, Ang." Fucking hell people, chill out.

"The victim is Sen. Michael Newton, Republican-"

"This is starting to make sense now." I mumbled as I took a bite out of my apple.

Angela cleared her throat "are you done now ,Bella?" I waved my hand urging her to continue.

"Republican Senator Michael Newton," she repeated glaring at me "38 years old, husband of Josephine Newton father of Miley and Joshua. The last time he was seen alive, he was leaving the Four Seasons he was staying at. Apparently that took place at around 11:30 pm according to the concierge. This give us a time of death bracket roughly between midnight and 3 am, we'll know for sure after the post mortem."

"Who discovered the body?" I asked as I walked towards the scene.

"A homeless boy, Riley, had nowhere to go and wanted to take shelter at a near by Salvation Army, he called the police at 3:30 am."

"Has anyone spoken to him?"

"He is not saying much, Ben tried to speak to him but he is non-responsive"

"Brady, do me a favour, keep trying to get something out of him. I realize its probably a lost cause but might as well give it a go. Get him some food or something, make him comfortable, and figure out what to do with him after. Make sure he's taken care of."

I continued towards the crime scene and saw Victoria who had her face so far in her notepad that I was wondering how she can see so close up.

"Price, would you care to join us in solving this crime before some letter jumps out of that notepad and hits you in the face?" I said as I passed her, hearing her slam the notepad shut.

"You've got some nerve Swan! Might I remind you that we've been waiting on you!" she snapped.

"Well now that I am here, we can get started, no point in wasting valuable time now is there?"

As I got closer and closer to the scene I noticed how peculiar it was. The body was laying on the steps, one of the arms was crossed over, holding a dagger bellow the sliced throat. The other arm was down by the side, hand was in a fist. Two brooches were dug into the man's eyes and the head was turned slightly to the left.

"Oh my God!" I heard Victoria gasp next to me. I take it she hadn't seen the body until just now.

"Ben do you have the camera?" he nodded "photograph the scene and have Brady bring John around to sketch the scene.

When all of the photographs were taken and the scene was sketched I turned on the voice recorder and approached the body. "This is Inspector Isabella Swan of the FBI currently at the steps of the Museum of Modern Art, it is 05:30 on Friday September 19th 2009. The victim is Republican Senator of California, Michael Newton. He is fully clothed, laid on the steps of the Museum of Modern art. He is holding a dagger under his throat, the angle of the cut indicates that it was not self inflicted and done post mortem, so suicide can be ruled of. The dagger has been photographed and sketched and is ready to be taken into evidence for further examination. The victim's eyes were gouged out with two gold brooches, signs of coagulation suggests that this was performed while the victim was still alive" I leaned over to him and inhaled close to his mouth "There is a distinct scent of alcohol on his lips. There are no traces of blood anywhere but on the body, concluding that this is not the location of the murder. The gold brooches will be removed and recorded as evidence. There are no traces of blood under the victim's finger nails" I looked at the other hand by his side and saw that he was holding a tiny piece of paper "What the...?" I slowly brought his hand up and pried his fingers open "The victim's right hand is in a fist, he is holding something. There are already signs of rigor mortise,narrowing the time of death at around 2 am" I took the object out of his hand "the victim is holding a piece of paper" I opened it and read the text "The note reads 'what is that which has one voice and yet becomes four-footed, and two-footed, and three footed?' The paper is taken into evidence for further examination. There are no finger prints anywhere on or near the body." I looked over to the road and saw tire marks, I went closer to investigate further "Tire marks on the road could be from the killer's vehicle. The break marks indicate the vehicle was coming from the west. There are signs of a sharp U turn, perhaps the location of possible murder locations. Nothing further at the moment. End of recording." I turned the recorder off and exhaled slowly.

"Great...we've got ourselves a riddler" I said handing the recorder and evidence over to Angela. Ben and Victoria looked over her shoulder.

"What does this mean?" Ben asked gesturing towards the paper.

"What does the riddle mean, or what does the killer mean by it?" I asked as I started walking towards my car and before anyone was able to open their mouth Victoria chimed in.

"Swan, we don't have time for your bullshit, if you know something you need to start talkingl!"

I gave her a pointed look but decided to leave this one alone.

"The answer to the riddle is a person, you know 'what has one voice but has four, two and three feet'. The answer is a human during the different stages of life, it is the Riddle of the Sphinx from Oedipus the King. What the killer is trying to convey with this, beats me. I do intend to find out though and I know just the person I'm going to enlist for help." I said and a smirk began to form on my face.

Angela narrowed her eyes.

"Who do you have in mind Bella?" she said as she continued to scrutinize me.

My grin grew bigger "Oh, you know, just an old friend. He's far more into this sort of thing than I am. I knew what I was looking at because he had me read all these things for his thesis and Oedipus was on the reading list" Angela's eyes widened and I could tell that what I was telling her was beginning to click.

"You wouldn't!"

"Yup" I said "I would"

"But...but...bu..." I left Angela to her objections and continued on my way to the car, I knew I had a Twinkie bar in there or something...fucking starving

"Oh, Ben" I said quickly over my shoulder "I am going to need the photographs developed and on my desk by 9 all right?"

"You got it B"

By 8 am the scene was covered with cops and of course journalists who were trying to get first coverage of the big news. For all intents and purposes my job at the sight was done, and I was in dire need of a shower and a hot coffee. Ben and Brady went back to the station to have the photos developed and figure out how to handle Riley. I looked around noticing Victoria briefing the chief about our finds and speculations. I turned towards the parking area and saw Angela sitting on the hood of her car looking though some paperwork.

"Angela, go home and get some rest, we'll meet at the lab at around 2, how does that sound?"

"Sounds good to me" she said without lifting her head. Figures, she is not very happy with me.

"Is there anything you would like to say to me Angela?" I said a bit more cross then I would've liked to. I knew exactly what, or shall I say, who was on her mind, so it was really hard to contain that damn smile which crept right back on my face.

She noted my smirk and frowned slightly "It's just that I can't believe you are seriously considering going to him after everything."

Oh yes this is about Edward. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

With a drop-the-act look Angela continued "You cannot seriously think you can just waltz right up to Edward and ask him for his help."

"Oh is that what you are talking about?" I replied feigning surprise "Here I was thinking you were sulking because you had to deal with Price all morning,"

"Bella" she said with a warning tone.

"Yes, Angela, I do intend to do that. I think it'll be a good idea to just drop by Columbia University and pick his brain a bit. He is a genius with cryptic shit, you know that." I said matter of factly.

Angela murmured something under her breath that sounded a lot like 'obviously not, couldn't figure your cryptic ass out'.

"Pardon?"

"What?I didn't say anything" Angela looked at me smiling

"Oh what-the-fuck-ever, you know exactly what you said!" I laughed and punched her shoulder lightly.

"You know, if I didn't know any better I would say you are making excuses to see him again, Bella"

"Yeah but you do know better, so I am sure you understand that this is strictly business between two people"

"Two people who dated for five years and the last time they spoke was on the evening when the guy proposed. A proposal the girl not only rejected, but also ended things right then and there, leaving him behind without so much as an explanation. Yes, Bella, I can see how that is strictly a business arrangement between two random people."

"I never said random" was the rebuttal I could muster at that point. I can't say that her reiterating the events of that night did not sting a bit causing my stomach to flip uncomfortably.

"I know you are making excuses to see him, there are many overly qualified people at the station who can come up with plenty of explanations for a known Greek myth."

"Well then Weber if you think that this is just a piece of cake why don't you tell me what the hell it means?" I spat at her getting a bit irritated with her interference in my plans.

"I have been working on a few theories, actually." she said "You see due to a wonderful invention called the Internet, you can now use Google, and on that little browser, you can find and read books, plays and all sorts of things on-line. And you know me and how I love to do some light reading," She added nonchalantly "so for the past half hour, with the help of Google I was able to discover that the killer re-enacted the self mutilation Oedipus carried out when Menoetes revealed to him who he really was and how he had sinned. You know by killing his dad to become Kind, marrying his mother and fathering children who are also his siblings...gross I know, but besides the point. Anyway when Oedipus hears of his sins he gouges his own eyes out and then he goes into exile. Some stories say he killed himself others say he died of natural causes, our killer was obviously more fond of the Oedipus killing himself version. Who would have thought that all of that information can come straight out of my iPhone?" she said with a smile as she waved her phone at me.

I couldn't remember when Angela became so damn annoying. I knew I was being unreasonable, she was only doing her job, and I should actually be proud of her for taking the initiative and doing extra work, even when I said I would take care of it. I knew I should have been happy but the only thing that was going though my head was fuck Google. My lack of immediate response did not go unnoticed so she began to ramble again.

"I know that it doesn't exactly tell us why the killer wanted to shine light on this particular myth, but what I am trying to get at is that it took me half an hour to figure a part of it out, and this is not even my speciality. We really have great staff at the Bureau, you know that." She stopped and looked at me for a moment. "It's really okay if you want to see him again Bella. Your relationship with Edward has always been sort of an enigma to me. That's besides the point though, I don't really care, it worked for you two. I know he is the only man you have ever loved, so don't stand there denying that you still feel something for him. I am not against you wanting to rekindle your romance with him, its just I don't really think that this..." I held my hand up to stop her annoying spiel.

"I really do appreciate your concern Angela but my mind is made, I am going to go see Edward and that is final. It is not because I secretly want for him and I to pick up things where we left off, but because I think he can give us very good insight as to what the fuck we are dealing with here. I am aware that we have a great staff, but I think some things call for professionals. Edward happens to be very qualified in this field."

"Bella, what makes you so sure that he would even want to see you, let alone help you?" I must admit, I had not considered that. I have always been the, cross that bridge when I get there kind of girl.

"C'mon Weber, don't be silly! It's been over a year, I am sure he's over it by now. Probably moved on to some new girl who is just dying to be Mrs. Cullen" that idea stung quite a bit, but I was not about to go there now...or ever.

"Whatever Isabella, you don't even believe what you are saying. I give up! Do what you want. But I am warning you, if I stumble upon Edward Cullen, sitting in front of our place of work, drunk off his ass with a handle of Jack as his companion. Begging me to let him speak to you so he can express his undying love for you! I reserve the right to say 'I told you so'. Especially when this little plan of yours ends up breaking more hearts than it mends."

"Wow...how very poetic of you Weber. I think you might have chosen the wrong career. Would you like me to ask Edward if there are any positions in the literary department at Columbia?"

"Make fun of me all you want, but don't come crying to me when I end up right."

"Me? Cry? Angela, are you sure you are okay, maybe you should really go home, the lack of sleep is making you delusional."

"Ya, ya, Swan, whatever, there is no winning with you. Go home and put your face on before you go to see Cullen. You are going to need all the help you can get to have that man speaking to you again."

I waved her off dismissively and walked to my car with two things on my mind, breakfast and hot coffee.


	2. Chapter 2 Old Friend

Chapter 2. Old Friend

BPOV

I have an amazing team. I got to my office at 9:30 am and the photographs I asked for were already sitting on my desk. Since I was ahead on the time front I decided to call Columbia University to see when Edward has office hours and apparently he was free between eleven and noon. That time bracket was actually perfect considering I had a couple of things I had to finish around the office. As I went about my business I wasn't oblivious to all of the looks I was getting from the guys. I don't usually put any effort into my attire but I figured it wouldn't hurt to look nice when I see Edward..._business _nice. I didn't get what all the fuss was about, all those looks over a white blouse, pencil skirt and heels. Maybe they thought I had gone crazy considering I usually went with comfort over sexual appeal.

At around 10:30 I decided it was time to head over. I got to the parking lot 5 minutes before his class was over. I felt like I was going on a date for the first time, my stomach was flipping uncomfortably and for a moment I actually thought about backing out.

I mentally slapped myself "come on woman, its just Edward, you know him" yeah I do know him, I know him a bit too well, that's the problem here.

"Pull it together you pansy and head in there now!" with an affirmative nod, I went inside the building. On my way to Edward's office I passed some twenty year old boy who stumbled after passing me. I assumed because his eyes were glued to my breast and not focused on the stairs, "Watch your step junior" I called as I walked on. With every corner I was getting more anxious "don't let this be awkward" I muttered to myself as I made the final turn "what am I saying of course it would be awkward". Making my way around the corner I was faced with Edward's wide open office door. He always had it open, thought it made his students feel more comfortable about coming in with their questions; something about an open door was more welcoming. I always thought the sign above the door defeated the purpose of that theory, it read "lasciate ogne speranze, voi ch'intrate" I smiled "abandon all hope you who enter" he liked his Dante. I walked up to the door and as I peeked I was momentarily stunned. There he was, my Edward, looking as striking as ever, full lips, big forest green eyes, strong jaw covered in slight stubble. I looked down his neck to his broad shoulders down his arms. He was very concentrated on whatever he was writing, completely unaware that he had company. I shamelessly oogled him for a bit, and as much as I would have loved to just sit there and watch him, I had things to do; I cleared my throat successfully getting his attention.

Edward looked up at me, his eyes widened as he stood there completely motionless, just staring at me. _Not in the least bit unnerving_.

"Hello, Edward" I said with a smile as I leaned on the door frame "long time no see, how've you been?

"Bella" he whispered.

"The one and only" I said and smiled at him. I got nothing from him, he just continued to stare at me, taking me in as though he was memorizing exactly how I looked, as though he was trying to decide whether I was actually there, or some figment of his imagination. _Figment of his imagination my ass, more like a nightmare of girlfriends past._

The silence was too unsettling and I couldn't hold his gaze any longer "so I see that you haven't changed your office much, still have that painting Jacob gave you for..."

"What are you doing here Bella?" he said just a little above a whisper, his eyes locking with mine.

"I-I-I'm umm" _shit, fuck, crap! why do I have to go all speechless now. Way to stand your ground there Swan! Damn it I can't do this when he's looking at me like that with those eyes._

"I umm..I am here because I was actually in the area and wanted to check up on Vanessa, you know, see how she's doing" I said and started straightening out invisible wrinkles on my skirt.

"Vanessa? You are here because you want to check on Nessie?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes sir, you know, I have to make sure my sister is receiving top quality education, with all the money it's costing the family."

"Huh." he said and leaned back in his chair running his fingers along his jaw, contemplating my answer and studying me.

"I understand that Nessie attends this university and that you are interested in her education, but you are still not answering my question. What are you doing _here_?" he said calmly.

I opened my mouth to form a reply when he interrupted me "because you see, it doesn't really make sense that you should be in this particular building, considering your sister is studying medicine, which is on the other side of campus...so I would appreciate it, if for once in your life you put all the games aside and answer my question...what are you doing, in my office, Bella?" it was obvious that he was trying hard to keep clam, for some reason this made me feel more at ease with the situation, angry Edward I could deal with, eerily calm Edward, not so much.

I smiled "Touché, Cullen" I said and walked in "even though I should be very concerned about how my dumb ass sister is doing in school, I am not here for her today, I am here to see you." I waited a moment to see if he was going to say anything but he didn't, so I took this opportunity to explain why I was there.

"I am working on this new case and I am going to need you help..." I was interrupted by Edwards bitter laughter.

"Un-fucking-believable" he said more to himself then me "You can't be fucking serious!" he said still laughing.

"Oh, I can assure you, I am completely serious, and this is actually a confidential matter so, I'm just going to close this doo.."

"Leave my door open Isabella!" he all but growled at me, and I knew he meant business, calling me Isabella was never a good thing.

"Excuse me, but did you hear what I just said? What I am about to discuss with you is _confidential_, meaning the door needs to be closed." I said and started closing the door.

"That door stays open Isabella or so help me God!" he hissed "We have nothing to discuss, I would like for you to leave my office now!"

"Edward, this isn't a game, lives could be at stake here!" I yelled back at him.

"You've got some nerve you know that? What the fuck makes you think that I want to see you let alone _help_ you!" he was out of his seat now and approaching me. Deja-vu much? I could swear Angela said something similar to me today I guess its 0-1 for Weber. I probably shouldn't have been pushing my luck at this point but I didn't care, Edward was going to hear me out whether he liked it or not, so as he came closer I shut the door and put my back to it.

"This isn't about you and me, Edward, this is serious." I said glaring at him as he came closer, he stood right in front of me, his face inches from mine.

"You have no right to ask me for anything! Get your morons to help you." he hissed.

"I'm sorry, Edward, but you are the most qualified person for this kind of thing so the Bureau requires _your _help" I said firmly

"Why can't you just leave me the fuck alone, huh Isabella? Why do you constantly feel the need to fuck with my life? What have I done so wrong by you that you constantly feel the need to make me fucking miserable?" he placed his hands on the door caging me in as he leaned in, his forehead almost touching mine "I am going to ask you one more time, please, leave my office, and get the hell out of my life." he said in a pained whisper.

I hated hearing him sound like that. At this moment, I wanted nothing more than to put my arms around him, hold him close and tell him how sorry I was for everything that I did; but I couldn't do that, we were way pass that, and he wouldn't want it anyway.

I took a shaky breath and brought my face up so I can look him in the eyes.

"Edward, please, help me out this one last time, and I promise you that after that I will leave you alone" he opened his mouth to protest but I put my fingers over his lips "I will make sure that you will never see me or hear from me again, it'll be as if I don't exist." I saw something flash in his eyes "I realize that you don't owe me anything, but if you have it in you, please help me out with this."

I removed my fingers from his lips and waited for him to reject me once again and throw me out. He stood his ground for a moment, towering over me, our eyes locked on one another. Suddenly he pushed himself away and walked back to his chair, sat down and pointed to the seat in front of his desk

"Sit" was all he said

I did as I was instructed sitting down slowly, almost like a school girl in trouble.

"What exactly do you need me to help you with?" he asked with a sigh.

I slowly handed him the folder with all the photographs and a copy of the note that was in the senator's hand. Edward slowly looked though them, whispering 'Jesus' here and there as the photographs became more gruesome. He looked over the report and studied the excerpt, nodding every once in a while as an indication that he agreed with what he was reading, eventually he put everything down and pushed it towards me, not uttering a word.

"So.." I prompted "what do you think all of this means?"

"From the looks of things, you have a lot of what you would need me for, figured out already. The origin of the excerpt, what the story is about, I am sure you are no stranger as to who the body is suppose to portray, so I am a bit curious as to why exactly you need me?"

"I need you to help me figure out who might have done this and why." I said slowly.

"This isn't my area of expertise, Bella" he said and I frowned knowing that he was right, there really isn't much he can tell me, he must have noticed my defeated expression because he continued "Look, I am not trying to be discouraging, but I am sure you already know that anyone could've done this. Someone might have thought that the senator was getting frisky with his cousin or something and decided to punish him for his Oedipus inclinations; or it could be some maniac attempting at avant garde work of art, the body was found at the Museum of Modern Art."

"We are going to do a thorough search on Newton, so we'll find out if anything dodgy has been going on with him, and even though that avant garde stuff is a pretty good guess, I still have to wonder why a maniac artist would choose him of all people. I need a motif. Could be a political statement."

"Could be" was all Edward said as he looked over the photographs one more time, he narrowed his eyes slightly at one of them.

"What is it? Do you see something?" I asked excitedly because that was his...'I might be onto something here expression'

"I am just looking at this dagger, is there a better photograph of it?" he asked.

"No these were the only photos taken, but I do have it in the lab, I could bring it by so you can take a look at it" I said sounding a bit too hopeful.

He nodded and continued looking at the photo, he took a pen and asked if he could write on it. I gestured for him to continue and he began to circle things on the photograph.

"I don't know, Edward, I get this weird feeling about this case, like there is more to it. I just have a feeling that this is not going to be the last murder we see by whoever did this to Newton" I said as I leaned back in my seat and exhaled loudly "I mean the killer is obviously trying to send a message.". Edward and I remained silent for a few minutes, he was still concentrating on the photo as I took the time to examine his office. It hasn't changed much, apart from the missing frames, mostly the ones of us together. I felt a lump in my throat again; why the fuck am I reacting this way?

Eventually Edward leaned back in his seat and ran a hand though his hair "I am sorry, I really can't do much with this, I am going to have to see the real thing" he looked at his watch "listen I have to go now, my class is about to start, I am going to have to ask you to leave." he said as he began shuffling though his stuff to get all of his papers in order.

"Yes of course. I'll leave these copies with you; maybe you can find something else if you have the time to look through them. I will give you a call by the end of today to let you know when I will come by so you can examine the dagger." he just nodded and I got up and made my way to the door, then I heard him mumbling to himself "wallet, wallet, wallet, where the hell did I put it?" I smiled

"Inner-left jacket pocket Edward" I called over my shoulder and offered him a soft smile, he gave me a surprised look as he reached in his jacket and sure enough there it was "I guess some things never change" I said and walked out the door on my way to lab.

I couldn't keep my mind off Edward the entire drive to the lab. I hated how things were between us. I hated that the sweet, loving guy was gone, but mostly I hated that I had no one to blame but myself. I shook my head because I couldn't dwell too long on our failed relationship. I had a murder of a public official to worry about now.

"What are you trying to tell us" I said to myself as I recapped everything I had seen. I had to admit, I had considered some of the ideas Edward threw in, but I still had my doubts on the matter. If it was to be an art exhibition anyone could've been the victim, there is no reason why it was Newton, unless someone was also making a political statement. Something about that didn't fit, if it was a political statement wouldn't there be something that indicates what Newton had done to upset the person who killed him. I thought about the myth again, Oedipus kills his father unknowingly to become the King and marries his mother. There were rumors that Senator Newton would be the most likely Republican candidate to run for the presidency in the next election, but it was all talk, nothing substantial at the time being, and as far as I can remember he wasn't involved in any ground-breaking legislation; then again, for being an investigator for the FBI, I didn't kept up with politics and government as much as I should. I got to the lab early and turned my attention to the dagger. It was strange that's for sure, and it seemed to have captured Edward's attention the most. I examined it more closely, the handle was made of white marble and there were some strange engravings of people with pained expressions all around a V in the middle, or it could be a Roman numeral 5. Along the blade there were some symbols in gold, Διχόνοια, Greek letter from the looks of it. I decided to leave the details of the dagger to Edward, and concentrated on trying to get finger prints out of it or any other forms of evidence... unsurprisingly I was unsuccessful on both accounts.

At ten till two, Angela, Ben and Brady walked into the lab.

"So, Bella, any luck with your friend" Brady said as he sat at his station.

"Yeah some, he couldn't do much with just the photos, so when we are done here, I am going to have to show him the originals, he took particular interest in the dagger." I said as I continued to examine some of the samples under the microscope.

"Well, you might be happy to know that apparently when a political figure is murdered all of the procedures are sped up, so we have the post mortem results."

"That's good news, how were things under Newton's hood" I said still looking though the microscope.

Angela gave me a pointed stare "You know you could try to be a bit more sensitive about this, the man did have a family and children." she didn't wait for an apology or a remark from me, she knew better by now," Time of death was 2am, so you are right, Bella, the scene of the murder has to have been somewhere nearby, most likely some deserted warehouse. Victoria is already searching possible murder locations near the scene" she flipped though some papers and continued "The cause of death was cyanide, and there was evidence that Senator Newton had consumed alcohol an hour before he was murdered, Laurent is having his minions check on the local pubs and bars."

"While I was at the office this morning, I attempted to remind Price to go through his phone and credit card records, any travel bookings and all e-mails. All I got in return were a few death glares, you know how she gets when I try to help her." I added

"I know you and Victoria hate each other, but you have to admit, the woman has amazing skills when it comes to tracking a murderer. I'm sure her and Laurent will do their job." Angela said as she continued to flip though the report.

"I don't hate _her_, she for some unknown reason dislikes _me_."

"Yeah, Bella, that unknown reason has a name, and its James"

"Oh Christ! Why would she _still _be pissed about that? I mean its not like anything happened or is happening between him and me!"

"Yeah but you know how it goes, the object of her affection is interested in another woman, she'd blame you and hate you a thousand times over, before she would admit that James is just not into her."Angela stopped looking though her files abruptly and looked at me "speaking of objects of affection, how did your date with Cullen go? Was it just like old times; screaming, shouting and walking out?"

"Oh you are funny Ang. Our meeting went rather well if you must know. Granted, he wasn't exactly thrilled to see me at first, but I gave him an offer he couldn't refuse; so he's on our team for now"

"Do I even want to know the terms and conditions of this agreement?"

"Nope"

"Figured as much, alright well, let's get to work, so you can call your boy and see what he can do for us."

It was half past eight when I finally decided to call Edward. As his phone was ringing I walked to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea. On the fourth ring he answered the phone.

"Hello" his voice sounded thick with sleep...the fuck? what is he, 100 years old?

"Did I wake you! It's not even nine yet, what are you doing in bed so early on a Friday night?"

"_What do you want Bella?"_

"Hello to you too,Edward, I am doing well, thanks for asking." What the hell was up his ass now? I thought we buried the hatchet!..._yeah right Swan, the way he'd like to bury a hatchet is through blow to your head, or to your cold black heart. Take your pick_.

"I'm calling to let you know that we have all of the evidence examined, so I am free to bring the dagger whenever it is most convenient for you."

_"No classes tomorrow, so you can stop by my house at around one; I do have some business to attend to later so I won't be able to dedicate a lot of time to this."_

"I will take what you can give me Yoda, tomorrow at one it is. You can go back to bed now grandpa, didn't mean to disturb your beauty sleep" with that I hung up hearing a grunt on the other end before the line disconnected.

I grabbed my hot cup of tea and decided to catch up on some LOST, that damn show always left me with more questions than answers. Sometimes I just want to fast forward to the part where they finally reveal everything. After 4 attempts to concentrate on the plot, I gave up. I had too much going through my head to have been able to follow a show like LOST. Instead I sat in front of my computer and began to research Mike Newton. All the legislation that his name was associated with, who he has been dealing with this past year, anything that could give me a hint as to why he was the victim. There were a couple of recent articles and pictures.

_August 30th, 2009- New York Times_

**California Senator Michael Newton attends gala to honor Arturo (Aro) De Luca**

_Aro De Luca CEO of De Luca Industries, has announced that he plans to retire at the end of the year. De Luca was presented with a lifetime achievement award, and speeches were given by some of the most influential people in the United States. Senator of California Michael Newton and Bill Gates were among the many who attended the celebration of De Luca's career. After 40 years of dedication Aro names his son Alec as his successor. A lot is expected of De Luca Jr. following in the footsteps of his father...Alec De Luca is newly engaged to Jane Evenson-Greene who is to succeed her father...Their union..._

"Boring, boring, boring, irrelevant, irrelevant" I kept mumbling as I clicked through online articles. There were a few other articles that mentioned Newton but it was pointless for they gave no insight as to what painted a target on the back of his head. I leaned back in my chair, staring blankly at my monitor. "What am I missing?" I felt as though all of the pieces were there, I just didn't know what I was looking at.


	3. Chapter 3 The Dagger

Chapter 3. The Dagger

BPOV

At two o' clock sharp I was ringing Edward's door bell. After a few minutes I heard the door locks rattling, and next thing you know there was Edward. All wet hair, towel around his neck, a grey muscle T and jeans; he must have been the sexiest teacher I have ever seen. Times like these make me question my judgment. _What was I thinking letting that man go?_

I was startled out of my musing by Edward clearing his throat. "What has your mind so preoccupied, the case?" he asked stepping aside so I can walk in.

"Something like that" I replied as I walked past him. A slight feeling of nostalgia began to spread though me as I made my way inside. Edward's place was always a second home for me. I loved coming over, just staying in with him, making dinner and watching movies. I smiled and shook my thoughts away, no point in thinking about the good ol' days now.

"Just head over to the living room, I am going to get myself a drink would you like something?" he asked as he made his way to the kitchen.

"Pick something for me." I said as I sat down.

"Alright, let's get on it, shall we?" he said as he emerged from the kitchen and sat next to me. I pulled the dagger out and gently handed it to him.

Edward held the object and examined it slowly, running his fingers along the engravings on the marble handle. He twisted it around over and over and examined the blade with the gold symbols, furrowing his brow as he contemplated the writing. Eventually he placed it gently on the table and just studied it from there.

"Very interesting. If I didn't know any better I would say that" he hesitated to continue as he concentrated further on the dagger. "No there is no way! It's impossible! There has never been any solid evidence of their existence...but this is _exa_ctly..." he kept mumbling to himself.

"Edward?" I prompted as he continued to mumble and completely ignore me "Hello, Edward, care to share?"

"Tell me again, exactly, where did you find this?" he asked as he picked up the dagger.

"I told you, the killer staged the murder so the victim held it under his throat...Why? Did you find something? Do you know who might have done this?" I asked getting a little too excited.

Edward looked over it again, he opened his mouth a couple of times as if he was going to say something but decided against it.

"It just can't be." he said quietly to himself.

"Can't be what, Edward?" he was really starting to frustrate me, I was just about to push him for answers when his phone rang. Edward answered immediately.

"Hey Kate, I'm so sorry hun can I call you back? I'm in the middle of something right now...yeah we're still on for tonight...alright darling, I'll see you then." with that he hung up.

"Sorry about that, where were we?" he said getting back to the artifact on the table. _Where were we!_ I don't know where he was, but all of a sudden, I was stuck somewhere in-between hun, darling and my sudden dislike of the name Kate.

"You were just about to tell me what you found." I said as he continued his examination, "Well?"

He contemplated for a little bit longer and then he stood up handing the evidence back to me "I am really sorry, Bella, I really don't think I can help you. This is not something I'm very familiar with." he said as he started walking around his room.

What the..? I was pissed of now, I jumped up "Edward! What are you not telling me? Whatever it is, it could be important! I need to know what you are so keen to dismiss without discussion!" I was basically yelling at this point. He kept walking around the room frantically looking for something on his shelfs.

"Edward, we both know you are a Goddamn genius when it comes to stuff like that. You said you are not very familiar, which means you know something or at least think you know something. Please fill me in, anything can be important!" _Why must he always be so complicated!_ He continued his frantic search until he found his car keys

"I have to go." he said as he made his way to the coat rack.

"Edward Anthony Cullen! We had an agreement, this is more important than some date; I'm sure your girlfriend will understand!" he could be so damn infuriating!

"Bella," he sighed "Just give me some time, I need to think about a few things." He looked at me with those green eyes of his and I couldn't say anything. I looked away from him and let out a humorless laughter.

"Some things never change." I mumbled to myself and looked at him again "Okay I'll give you the rest of the weekend, but come Monday you need to give me some answers."

He nodded and opened the door for me and followed me out. We went our separate ways but as I made a few steps I turned around. I saw Edward pull his cell phone "Hey Kate I'm very sorry..." I couldn't hear the rest because he was moving away from me, but it didn't take a mind reader to know what he was saying or why he was in such a hurry to leave. The day just kept getting better and better. As I walked I decided that since I'm in the neighborhood, I might as well visit Ness; it had been a while and I could use some verbal sparring to release some pent up frustration.

About half an hour later I was sitting on Vanessa's couch drinking tea while waiting for her to finish her phone conversation with Jacob, her retarded boyfriend. I never understood the appeal there. Granted he was hot and smart but also incredibly cocky and immature. I could overhear bits and pieces of what she was saying to him now, which only further enhanced my opinion of him.

"Jacob, don't you think this is a bit rash?" she asked angrily "Just because Finnegan kicked you out of his class does not mean you should quit school altogether!" she was quiet for a moment; I assume she was waiting for him to formulate some bullshit reasons behind his latest display of complete idiocy. He's been going on and on about how he is smarter than the system, and how he doesn't need a degree. How it's all a gigantic waste of time, because apparently he is a genius hacker that can rule the world with a two numbers sequence.

"I know you are incredible, Jake, but Finnegan didn't do what he did because he doesn't appreciate your talent. You hacked into his school computer, Jacob! That is a serious offense! On top of that, not only did you find the templates for all of the tests he was going to give but also the risqué pictures and e-mails between him and Professor Jones." I chocked on my tea when I heard that. College seems a lot more interesting these days.

"That is an abuse of your intellect, and as far as he is concerned an attempt to cheat. In a way you are lucky he had these pictures so now you have leverage. At least now he won't try to expel you. Oh but wait! _You _would do what he is afraid to try and expel _yourself_. Giving him exactly what he wants." Nessie said and awaited his reply. I must give her some credit here; she knew how to get her way with him. All she had to do was present the situation as some sort of competition where he would be a loser if he does not follow her advice and **'boom!'** she gets what she wants.

"I know you are mad babe, but just sleep on it. On the bright side you have to worry about one class less, and next semester just make it up by adding another one. You'll still graduate on time, and at least he just withdrew you, so you don't have to worry about your GPA." she smiled as he said something to her "I know baby, I love you too, have a good night, I'll see you tomorrow." She hung up the phone, smiled and shook her head as she came to join me.

"Sorry about that, Jacob got himself in a weird station with one of his teachers." she said taking a sip of her tea as she curled up on the sofa "You know how he gets when something doesn't go his way it's always 'blah blah blah, fuck this, I don't need them, they are lucky I even attend this sorry excuse for a university. I can be out there making millions and building a life for us blah blah'" she said laughing.

"You know how I feel about Jacob, Ness, you guys have something together, you do, but he's so unstable and unreliable." I said glancing over at her.

"Oh come on, Bella, he's not that bad, he's...special."

"He's special alright." I said sarcastically only to be punched in the shoulder.

"I'm holding a cup of hot tea, could you maybe avoid the physical abuse until I'm done?" I said putting it on the coffee table.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company sis, tough day?" she asked.

"What, I can't come for the sole reason of wanting to see my baby sister because I love and miss her?" My expression must have shown that saying things like that to Vanessa tasted like vinegar coming out of my mouth. We both laughed.

"So what is it, work or a man?" she asked.

"A man?" I laughed nervously "What makes you think that? I have more important things than men to worry about Vanessa, you know that!"

"Oh shit...It's both! Okay spill, I want the details on the guy first!" she said excitedly putting her cup on the coffee table and looking at me expectantly.

"I don't understand what makes you think..." I was going to try to divert this conversation but Nessie wasn't having it.

"Look, I am your sister, I know you. When you come over to my house looking the way that you do now, it's always one of two things; men, which in your case always something to do with Edward, or work. Now, before you interrupt me again, I know that you and Eddie boy haven't been together for a while; but there is no denying that _that_ expression right there, sissie," she said pointing at my face "screams of 'I need to talk to you about guy problems and how my job sucks.'" she said with a smirk.

"I hate you." I said glancing sideways at her as I took another sip of my tea.

"You luuuv me." she teased and pressed the issue "Come on now, I don't have all evening. School's kicking my ass this semester, spill the beans."

I exhaled loudly "I don't have anything to say really, its just that, I'm dealing with this new case. It's not like my normal homicide cases; this is...different..." I trailed off thinking about how peculiar it was.

"Different how?" Nessie asked.

"Just different, Ness, I can't go into details with you, you know that. Let's just say it requires a person with certain expertise that happen to be in Edward's field study."

"Aha! So this _is_ about him! Hold on, Edward is a history and literature professor; what could he be able to contribute to a murder investiga...Waaiiit a minute! Are you dealing with some crazy shit? Like some cryptic murder out of The DaVinci Code? Is Edward like Robert Langton or something! Are there crazed religious people involved? You know, the kind that self-mutilate and have albino killers?" if I thought she sounded excited before, this brought it to a whole new level.

"Albino _what_? No, Vanessa, you watch too many movies. Edward is just helping me piece some things together, and so far he's been sort of counter-productive."

"How so?" she asked a little disappointed that I am not living in what would be Dan Brown's next novel.

"Because, he _knows _something and refuses to fill me in. Because he doesn't have enough time to really put some effort into this whole ordeal. I don't really blame him, he is busy. He has this new girlfriend that is occupying all of his time now..."

"Mmmhmmm, so this is why you look like someone has sucked the joy out of your life." Nessie said, amusement laced in her voice

"What? No." I waved her off dismissively "I mean I was the one who ended things right? When I did what I did, I was well aware that he can date other people. I relinquished any right to be upset over that fact. So yeah, if he wants to be with Kate who he can love and spoil." I frowned a little as I continued "Who he can have over his house for late night black and white movies, random road trips, and to whom he can propose and actually get a yes from; then he has every right to do that. All I can do is accept that and be happy for him. And I have...accepted it...and I am happy for him." I was getting very uncomfortable with this topic. I needed to change the subject as soon as possible.

"Oh yeah" Nessie said sarcastically "sounds like you are ecstatic about it." she added with a knowing grin.

"So how about this horrible weather that is approaching eh? We should go shopping for some winter clothes, there are talks it will be the worse winter we've seen in a while." The weather talk is a world known code for 'this conversation is over'. People always know that once you start bringing up the weather, the previous topic has to be dropped.

Nessie just tilted her head to the side and studied me "C'mon, Bella, talk to me." She said quietly " Bring down those walls you like to barricade yourself in, and let me see the real you for a couple of minutes." _Apparently Vanessa was not familiar with the code of conduct when one brings up the weather_. I remained silent for a while. I didn't want to talk about this anymore. I had no intention of admitting to anyone the extent to which this whole situation was upsetting me. I don't want to hear the 'well, it's your own damn fault' speech; and I will get it, if not from Nessie, I'll get it from Angela. The thing is I wouln't be able to blame them. There are other reasons, things like 'do I still love Edward or is what I feel just an instinctual reaction because someone is playing with what use to be mine?'. I never stopped caring about him, but I also accepted the decision I made and have been doing my best to continue moving on with my life.

"Ness, can we please change the subject?" I asked but she just shook her head.

"No, Bella, you always do this! You can't keep bottling things up inside. I can see that this is bothering you and I think you should just let it all out."

"What do you want me to say?That I care about him? Okay, fine I care about him a lot!" I was beginning to raise my voice, admitting my feelings out-loud was never my forte, it made me irritable. "There are..." I hesitated continuing for a moment because I was close to the brink of just spilling everything "There are days...where I just sit at home, all alone, and just reminisce about our time together. I sit there wishing so hard that I could just turn back time so I can have him in my life again." the flood gates were open now and my feelings were pouring out for my sister to hear. "And I don't know if I am still in love with him, or if I'm just being possessive, but the thought of him with another woman is _killing _me." I shook my head and laughed humorlessly "Do you know what hurts the most though? It's the fact I have no one to blame but myself. And this case is not helping my nerves in any way! I have some homicidal freak on the lose! God only knows who he'll go after next! I'm just fucking tired of all this shit!" I looked down at my hands and remained quite, Nessie was probably assessing my emotional purging and thinking up something to say to make it all better. She wouldn't be able to come up with anything, my situation was hopeless.

"Wow." she whispered "Well damn sis, you've got some issues." she said and we both chuckled. _Don't I know it._

"I need to be frank with you." she said "I think you are a bit of a drama queen, ah ah let me finish." she cut me off as I opened my mouth to protest "You are sitting here, like a damn coward, just feeling sorry for yourself, when the answer to your problem is starring you in the face."

"Please enlighten me," I said sighing in defeat.

"I think you should talk to him"

"Right, it's getting late. I should really head back home, I have a lot of work I need to finish up" I started getting up because this was one conversation I really wanted to evade.

"Just hear me out for a minute, Bella." _Jesus she never gives up, does she!_ "You owe it to him and to yourself"

"I don't owe anyone anything!" she was starting to get on my nerves more and more.

"Yes you do, Bella! Now, I am your sister and I am going to love you no matter what, but I feel responsible to tell you when you are acting like a bitch! And what you did to Edward was a bitch move, and you never bothered to explain your actions!"

"There was nothing to explain, he asked me to marry him, I wasn't ready so I said no. The rest was the aftermath of being with someone whose proposal I rejected. It started to feel like we were already broken up, I just finished off an already dying relationship."

"Yes, but you still need to give him a little more than that, you owe him something Bella" Nessie said softly, I could tell she was really trying to get through to me "Stuff like, why you weren't ready, why leave without any explanation. Hell, even saying that you were not ready would've been something, needing some time to clear your head, etc. You know stuff like that, you just...left him."

"Can we please not talk about this any more? I have this psycho out there and I have a hunch that this will not be the last we see of him. So giving Edward explanations is quite honestly the very last thing on my 'to do' list" I said as I looked at my watch and finished my tea "Look, I've got to go, I have some work to do." I got up and looked at Nessie who leaned back in the sofa, looking defeated. "I'll talk to Edward after this case is closed okay? Just can't deal with it now." Nessie looked a little happier with my decision.

"I just want you to be happy Bells, and the last time you were truly happy was when you were with him. I just want you to sort it out so at least you two can still talk from time to time and be part of each other's lives"

"You need to stop watching all these soaps, they are brainwashing you, the world is not peaches and cream all the time" with that I was headed out the door "Oh and Ness." I said as I was halfway out the door "make sure you lock up and be careful. We really don't know what we are dealing with yet, but my 6th sense has never been wrong, so just keep the partying and late night to the minimum until we catch this guy ok?" and I was out.

Time always flies when I go to Vanessa's place. It was already six o'clock I had to get home and try to tie some loose ends.


	4. Chapter 4 Tea and Crumpets

Chapter 4.-Tea and Crumpets

BPOV

I woke up Sunday morning a little after 10 am. Saturday night was another boring work filled night; with no progress on the Newton case what so ever. I called Angela for an update but so far no one has stumbled upon any leads.

"Oh and Bella, don't forget. You need to question Josephine Newton tomorrow. She has agreed to completely cooperate with our investigation and help with whatever she can to capture the person who murdered her husband."

"Got it, 2pm tomorrow." We finished our conversation with a discussion on how the week is going to pan out, who will be handling what, etc. After that I went to make myself a cup of coffee and started flipping through the Sunday paper.

As expected, the front pages were monopolized by the death of the senator. Photographs were not released to the press, but they had managed to describe the scene thoroughly, even remarking on the dagger that was taken into evidence.

I received a few calls from my parents and Nessie, who like the rest of America, and probably the world by now, had read about the murder. Vanessa went on about how 'cool' it must be to investigate such an interesting crime; the parents, as always, were more concerned about me "meddling in bad guys' business".

I switched on the TV and continued skimming through the articles. In the background the news anchor was going through the breaking news and latest developments.

_Republican Senator Michael Newton was found dead by a homeless boy Riley Bears, Friday morning at 3 am. The body was discovered on the steps of the Museum of Modern Art. The FBI is yet to release a statement regarding the nature of the crime and possible leads. Members of Congress are shocked by the events and some are raising concerns about the security measures taken by the government for their protection. President Tyler Crowley expressed his deepest condolences to the late Senator's family, last night during a press conference. Josephine Newton is expected to land at JFK later today to assist the FBI in their investigation…_

The news anchor's voice was drowned by the loud ringing of the home phone. I bet it's the damn telesales people. No one calls my house number. I particularly love it when they ring me during nice family dinners to offer me life insurance; reminding me that you never know when your last meal will be. I picked up the phone already prepared to yell at someone.

"Whatever it is that you are selling, I'm not interested; don't ever call this number again." I said and as I was about to hang up a familiar voice chimed in from the other end.

"_Isabella! How have you been?"_ a woman with an English accent was on the other end _"That is no way to answer the telephone darling, where have your manners gone!"_

"How long have you known me Tanya? Manners were never my forté." I replied "Why are you calling my home phone anyway. What are we, in the stone ages? I do have a cell you know."

"_Yes I know, but I have lost your mobile number! This was the only way I could reach you and I really wanted to arrange a catch up. Fancy meeting me for a cup of afternoon tea today?"_

Tanya Reid-Knox has been a friend of mine for a year or so now. I met her because she was a key informant in a case that dealt with drug distributing.

Tanya comes from and upper class family. She attended Stowe School, one of the best private schools in the UK followed by four years in Oxford studying Art History. She is the great combination of beauty and brains, but rarely knows how to combine the two. She is always out living the New York high life. Living like a socialite and doesn't hide her recreational use of illegal drugs. That is how I managed to bust Rafael Mendoza. The man was supplying cocaine and heroin all through New York City for years before Tanya decided to speak with us. To this day I still don't know what the motif behind her betrayal of Mendoza was. From what I have gathered Rafael and she were something like friends at one stage.

"Afternoon tea? Can you be any more English? I said and she laughed on the other side. "You know what? Sure, why now? I need to get out for a bit and clear my head. When and where do you want to meet?" I asked already walking over to my room, trying to put together something to wear.

"_Meet me at one, at this place called Woods. it's a really nice coffee shop a block away from my house"_ she replied enthusiastically and carried on giving me directions on how to get there _"Ahh I'm so excited to see you, it has been too long!"_

*~'~*

Roughly two hours later, I was sitting at Woods, having a cup of 'afternoon tea' with Tanya.

"Soo, give me all the latest gossip! What's new with you, still saving the world one asshole at a time?" Tanya said taking a sip of her tea.

"Pretty much, I'm a working on the Newton murder at the moment."

"Oh how exciting! Have you found the guy who did it?" She asked cheerfully, as if we were talking about what we had for dinner last night.

"You would've heard if we had, so at the moment, no, not even close." I replied, once again feeling that familiar sting of anxiety spreading through me. This was a huge case, it could make or break my career and I have this feeling that it will only get more and more convoluted.

"Enough about work, It's a boring topic for a chat." Tanya said noticing the change in the mood, saving me from talking about the case "Let's talk about more important things like, do you have a man in your life?"

_Oh here we go again, another subject I was trying to steer clear of _"Nope, none, just trying to concentrate on work at the moment." I replied curtly.

"Well no wonder you are all tense and stressed out! You need a good shag mate." She said in a matter of fact way.Before I could formulate a reply she was out of her seat and approaching two guys sitting at the nearby table. _I really hope she's not doing what I think she is doing._

"Excuse me," she said politely to the men "I'm really sorry to be so rude, but is there any way I can pinch a fag of you?" she said gesturing towards the pack of Marlboro lights on the table. What Tanya always forgot was that Americans do not associate that word with cigarettes, hence the confused look on the men's faces. At least she wasn't giving my number out, which I thought, was the point of her quest.

The man looked at her for a few minutes clearing his throat before he replied "Miss, what did you say your name was?

"I didn't." Replied Tanya, "but for a handsome bloke like yourself, it's Tanya" she said with a cheeky smile.

"Okay, Tanya, I don't know what gave you an impression earlier, but I am just here having a cup of coffee with a friend, we are not…partners"

I could barely hold my laughter at this stage. The confusion that was displayed on Tanya's face was absolutely priceless.

"Pardon?" she said innocently

"Him and I" the man said gesturing between himself and his friend "are just having coffee, we are not…eh..umm..a couple."

"Didn't say you were; all I wanted was to bum a smoke of you." she said pointing to the cigarettes.

"Oh" was the oh-so-eloquent response the man could muster "Yeah, umm, sure thing, help yourself, I am sorry about the misunderstanding I thought you were calling us..umm, never mind."

"Not a problem darling, thank you so much for the cig" just when I thought she was about to come back so we could resume our tea she continued speaking to the men. "So gentlemen, now that you have reassured me your sexuality, what do you think of my friend Bella? Isn't she gorgeous! Single and looking boys, best introduce yourselves before someone sweeps her off her feet! She needs a man, if you know what I mean." _aaand she did it again! _I was completely mortified giving them an awkward smile while trying to get Tanya's attention s. _That's it! I'm going to kill her!_

"I do apologize about her!" I said to the men aware of how badly I was blushing "Tanya can you come here so I can speak to you for a moment?"

"Of course darling, just give me a second so I can provide this lovely gentleman with your mobile num…"

"No, Tanya, NOW!" I all but yelled, trying to maintain a smile for the guys' sake.

She turned to me with a mischievous grin but pushed the matter no further. As she walked back to our table I mouthed an 'I'm so sorry' to the guys who at this stage seemed to be enjoying my embarrassment and shameless blushing.

"_What_ exactly do you think you are doing?" I hissed and gave her the death glare.

"Trying to sort out your dry spell mate, sex is good for you!" she said taking a drag out of her cigarette.

"Thank you for being so thoughtful!" I said sarcastically "Don't let me hold you back while you air all of my dirty laundry. I am RIGHT HERE you know!" she just laughed

"What _are_ you my sex therapist now? Remind me, why did I agree to come meet you again? You always pull shit like that" I said chuckling a bit. Despite my current state embarrassment, this time with Tanya was actually getting my mind off things.

We laughed the situation off and started chatting about random things again.

"So whatever happened with you and that hot shot lawyer you were seeing? What was his name, James?

"Why is it that two intelligent women cannot have a conversation that does not focus on men for at least an hour?"

"Because it will be a boring gossip-less conversation?" Tanya offered and smiled "Tell me about him, what happened there?"

"You know, this and that. He was there when I needed to get over someone. I mean don't get me wrong, James is great, and he's hot but it was never going to be anything more. Figured I'd stop leading him on." I replied nonchalantly.

"So basically he was just a booty call." She said.

"I prefer friends with benefits, but sure, yeah, call it what you like."

"Seems like a great deal, why did you stop?" she asked

"The whole affair was causing some unnecessary tension at work. Our chief detective, Victoria Price, has been in love with him for ages, and my short fling with him hasn't helped me develop a good working relationship with her" I replied.

Tanya nodded along as I gave my reasons "You said you needed this James character to get over someone, who was that?"

"Oh just this guy, I was with him before I met you so you wouldn't know him." I replied trying to dismiss the subject.

"Ok_ay_" she said skeptically "Does he have a name?" she pushed.

"It's Edward" I replied shortly hoping she'll get the idea that it's not something I want to discuss with her.

"Uh-huh, so does this Edward have a last name?" she continued to push.

"His name is Edward Cullen, why is this so interesting?" I asked getting a bit agitated.

"Just curious as to why you are trying to avoid the subject, are you still into him?" she asked

I hesitated for a moment "No I'm not; it was over a year ago, I am completely over him." _Yeah, completely, Swan, keep telling yourself that._

"Right, so who is this guy?"

I realized Tanya was not going to give up "Edward and I were high school sweethearts; we dated halfway through high school and college. He was everything to me, my first love and my best friend" I said reminiscing.

"How is it that I'm just hearing about this? I shrugged.

"You know me; I don't like talking about my private life that much. Or lack the thereof, as you so kindly pointed out earlier."

So what happened?" Tanya said genuinely interested.

"Come on Tanya, is there nothing else we can talk about?" she didn't respond, with a sigh I continued "Edward and I moved to New York City after we graduated. He started teaching at Columbia and I got the job at the FBI. Our lives were like a fairytale, we had each other and our dream jobs but then." I stopped for a moment, thinking about the night that was the beginning of the end. "Not last Christmas, but the one before, he wanted to take our relationship to the next level, and proposed to me that night."

Tanya was completely immersed in my story now. She was hanging on my every word. "Yeah, so what happened?" she asked impatiently.

I thought about that night, just the two of us, sitting in front of the fireplace at Edward's house. Glasses of malt wine in our hands, joking and laughing about how embarrassing our families are when they are together. It was a tradition to gather everyone at the Cullen's every Christmas. My parents flew over from Washington every year just to enjoy Esme's Christmas turkey. It was a lovely night, I couldn't be happier. Just as I was about to get up and get another glass of wine, Edward walked in from the bedroom with a peculiar look on his face.

_**Christmas 2007**_

"_Edward, are you alright" I asked looking at his nervous expression._

"_Come here for a moment." He said and extended his hand to help me up. I took it and he pulled me towards him. His face was inches from mine; I could smell the sweet wine on his breath. He placed his arms on the lower part of my back and pulled me even closer. I felt his soft lips planting adoring kisses on my forehead and eyelids. I ran my hands through his hair and slowly kissed his full lips. I lost myself in the moment, just feeling Edward's lips on mine, tasting the wine on his tongue. I could feel my desire for him getting stronger and I slowly started unbuttoning his shirt. I undid a few buttons before Edward put his hands over mine and pulled away._

"_What's wrong?" I asked feeling a little rejected "Don't you want me?"_

"_Baby, trust me, I do." He said bring my hands to his lips and kissing my knuckles. _

"_What is it then?" I asked getting a little worried about his strange behavior._

"_I need to do this." He said more to himself then me. He slowly walked me to the sofa and gestured for me to take a sit. Before I knew what was happening, Edward was down on one knee._

_Oh no! Not now! I thought to myself._

"_Isabella Swan, I have been completely and irrevocably in love with you since the first day I saw you. I promise to love you every day for the rest of my life. Make me the happiest man in the world." He said and pulled a box from his back pocket, holding the most beautiful ring I have ever seen "Will you marry me, Bella?"_

_I stared blankly at the ring. I could not formulate a response. I felt panic flood through my body. My breathing became more rapid, and I started feeling claustrophobic. I needed to get out! I had to get out right now! I couldn't do this! I didn't want to be married. I couldn't accept it! I couldn't deny him either! I didn't know what to do! Why was he doing this now? Why am I so surprised? Why have I not thought about it? This was to be expected. Why did I not see it coming?_

_I felt the tears begin to fall down my face. Just say yes! Accept him! He is all you have ever wanted! The tears continued to flow. Why is this so difficult? Why don't I want this? Every girl wants this! Why am I so different?_

"_Baby, are you okay, what's wrong?" Edward said concern lacing his voice._

"_Edward, I can't." I said so quietly, I wasn't even sure I actually said it out loud "I'm so sorry! Please forgive me but I cannot marry you." I said in a shaky teary voice. _

_The pain that spread through his face was too much for me to bear. He looked as someone had literally torn his heart out of his chest. The defeated expression was too much for me, he looked as though he had no reason to live anymore. I saw a tear slowly fall down his face. "I see." Were the only words he said as he stood up and walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind him. _

_My tears were flowing freely now. I had to get out. I couldn't face him again! Not after this! I got off the sofa, grabbed my stuff and was out the door, shutting it behind me; closing away everything that transpired a few minutes ago…_

"Hello, hello Bella!" Tanya was waving a hand in front of my face successfully pulling me out of my head. "Welcome back to planet Earth space cadet!"

"I'm sorry, what were we talking about?" I said shaking my head to clear it of all the images from that night.

"I was asking you what happened after he proposed." Tanya said tilting her head to the side trying to figure out what was going on in my head.

"Oh that's right. I said no. The rest as they say is history." I said shrugging.

"No? Just no? Nothing else?" she asked sounding a bit frustrated.

"Yeah, you know, I was never good with explaining myself, so yeah just no" I confirmed.

"You didn't give him a reason?" _I feel like I'm hearing this argument a lot these days._

"No, nothing, just no?" I said and looked away; I didn't want to see the judgmental look on her face as well.

"Hold on one moment here. You are telling me that a man made the _conscious_ decision to want to spend the rest of his life with you and _you_ turned _him_ down, without so much as an explanation?" she said smirking "Lucky him! The poor bastard probably doesn't appreciate how blessed he is by your rejection." She laughed and I kicked her under the table.

"Bitch!" I laughed.

"I am just calling it like I see it. I love you to pieces Bells, but I can't imagine you having a proper boyfriend, let alone committing a lifetime to someone."

"Hey now! I really cared about Edward if you must know!" I said defensively.

"See that is the thing right there Bella!" she said pointing at me "You _ne_ver admit your true feelings! How long were you with him, some eight years? And all you can say is that you _cared_ about him? I mean Jesus, Bella, sort it out! Open up a bit and let good things happen to you!"

Tanya's monologue was interrupted by my cell phone, the caller ID made my heart skip a beat, and I picked up immediately.

"Edward." Was all I said, I looked up at Tanya who quirked an eyebrow at me.

"_Bella, I have been looking into that dagger you brought over and I think I have something that you should see."_

I could feel my heart rate speeding up. At times like these, I loved my job. Pure adrenalin rush. _Could it be? Could he have possibly found me a lead?_

"When and where am I to meet you?" I said.

"_My office in one hour." _he said shortly.

"I'll be there. And Edward" I said before he could hang up "Thank you for this."

"_See you in an hour, Bella." _He said and the line disconnected.

"Well, well, well, speak of the devil. What was he calling about?" Tanya asked intrigued.

"You remember that case I told you about earlier…Edward is sort of helping me piece some things together." I said as I waved the waiter for the bill.

"So you two are working together?" she laughed "You two are so going to shag!"

"No, there will be no shagging Tanya! This is strictly a business relationship."

"Yeah I'm sure, have you got any photos of him? I am so interested to see what he looks like." She asked excitedly.

"I have just the one I use as a caller ID ." I flipped through my phone and showed her the photo.

Tanya looked at him and her eyes widened "Fuck me, he's fit!" she exclaimed. "How did you?" she said pointing at me "How did you have it in you to leave that man? You do realize that you gave up sex on tap with fitty mcfit over here!"

"Alright, alright I get it; Edward is hot, what's new?" I said getting my phone back from Tanya because she was getting a little too dreamy eyed over the photo for my comfort level.

"No mate, seriously, if you are not tapping that, can I?" she said and I couldn't decide if she was serious or not "I'm kind of glad you turned him down now, fresh meat on the market! Woo!" She said laughing.

"No way! Nah-uh, Edward is completely off limits to you!" I said shaking my head. When I looked at her she was pouting.

"Oh but why!" she whined "You said you were over him, and he's just so fit! Someone needs to take advantage of that!"

"Yeah well, I might be over him, but definitely not ready to see him with anyone, especially_ a_ _friend._ You know? That magical word that forever binds you to stay away from current and ex-boyfriends." I said smirking.

I paid the bill and started gathering all my stuff from the table.

"What if I defriend you on Facebook for a day or so, would that make him fair game?" she said and I could tell she was just joking to wind me up now.

"Tanya!" I said with a warning tone.

"Right, I got it, off limits…forever?" _she can't help herself can she?_

I rolled my eyes "I am leaving now! I will call you later in the week so we could arrange to meet up again. It was good to see you."

"Lovely to see you as well." she said and kissed both of my cheeks for goodbye "Definitely give me a shout later in the week. I want to hear new gossip and it better be steamy!" she said winking at me.

With that I rushed towards Columbia University to meet Edward and finally get some answers.

~*'*~

What Bella and Tanya failed to notice was the man standing in the shadows across the road from them. He just stood there observing every move they make: every expression, every reaction. He saw Bella take a phone call and rush off. Slowly he pulled out his cell phone, and dialed the number he was given to contact the ones in charge. After two rings someone on the other line answered. They said nothing, but he knew they were listening by the heavy breathing on the other end.

"The girl just left Woods. She received a telephone call and rushed off, it looked important. I request further instructions, she is about to get in a cab.

There was nothing but breathing on the other line for a couple of minutes.

"_Follow her"_ A very deep voice finally responded, and the line went dead.

The man in the shadows hailed the first cab that passed and tailed Bella to Columbia University.


	5. Chapter 5 Voltera

I was getting anxious as I realized I would be very late to meet Edward. I tried to ring him a few times but his phone went straight to voicemail.

"Excuse me, how long is this going to take?" I asked the taxi driver a little bit more demandingly than _he _would have liked, so needless to say, I was met by a glance from his rear view mirror that lasted a little bit longer than _I_ would have liked. I broke eye contact and looked out the window, praying to any God that would listen, for Edward to still be waiting when I get there.

With a forty-five minutes delay, we finally made it to Columbia University and I all but ran out of the taxi completely forgetting to pay the man.

"Hey lady! What do you think you are doing? I don't work for free!" I heard the angry taxi driver yell behind me, _He was not my fan at all by this stage_.

I swung around, digging into my purse and taking out all of the cash floating around, which was way over than the cost of my fare. I ran back and basically threw the money in the man's hands.

"I'm so sorry, but I'm so late, keep the change." And ran off again, which is not that easy when you are wearing heels.

"Way to go Bella! Nicely done! You could've probably got here faster by _walking_ than taking a cab! And what possessed you to wear heels? Last time I checked, you can barely walk on flat shoes let alone heels!" I kept mumbling to myself as I was half sprinting half walking towards Edwards office. I was nearly out of breath as I got to Edwards office. I made it just in time, because Edward had just got out and was about to turn to lock his office.

"I'm here!" I shouted forgetting about my inside voice, and could hear the echo down the halls. I saw Edward suddenly turn towards me, startled by my grand entrance I would imagine, but he quickly regained his composure by wiping all emotion from his face and looked at me.

"You are extremely late Bella; I am just on my way home." He said slowly and started to walk past me.

"Edward, I'm so sorry, I've been on the cab ride from hell! I had no idea it was going to take this long." I said still a bit out of breath.

Edward stopped and turned towards me "You could have called me to tell me you are running late." he said still unyielding.

"I tried to call you!" I said "Your phone went straight to voicemail!" he studied me for a minute or so, not saying anything. I felt really exposed under his scrutinizing gaze and instinctively wrapped one arm over myself. "Look, I am not trying to mess you around Edward, when I spoke to you I had every intention of getting here on time, can't you just cut me some slack from time to time." I said and looked at him.

I could see his expression soften a bit and he came closer to me, still not saying anything just looking at me. He opened his mouth as though he was about to say something but changed his mind.

"Right, let's make this quick, I do need to head home as soon as possible." was all he said and walked back to his office. I waited for him to go inside before I made my way in. He placed his briefcase next to his desk and walked over to the bookshelf, pulling a large volume out and flipping somewhere towards the middle of the book.

"So," I said as I walked over to him and sat on the edge of his desk "what is it that you have to show me?"

"Honestly, it's probably nothing that would prove to be very useful, but I know you like to be thorough, so I thought I'd show you this." He said as he flipped through a few pages. "There," he said and placed the book in my lap, "look at this."

I looked at the page he pointed to and there it was, a perfect painting of the same dagger that was currently in the safe in my house.

"Edward! This is it! What does it say about it?" I asked again looking up from the book.

He ran a hand through his hair and chuckled slightly "You are going to think this is crazy." He looked at me gaging my response, and when he saw that there would be no such reaction from me he continued.

"Do you remember a couple of years back, I was obsessively researching material for that book I was going to publish?" He asked and sat next to me.

"Yeah I do, it was all about the truth and myths of secret societies. I remember being jealous that your work was actually interesting, where my work comprised of being the bureau's paper bitch." I glanced sideways at him and smiled. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It has everything to do with what I'm about to tell you." He said a little bit too ominously, and I just had to make fun of him for it.

"Dum dum duuum!" I laughed and nudged him with my shoulder slightly "Sorry, you left yourself wide open for that one!"

He shook his head in disbelief and gave me the 'are you done now?' look. I rolled my eyes and gestured for him to continue. _Some people really lack in the sense of humor department._

"Do you remember me telling you about these fascinating stories surrounding this alleged society called Voltera?"

"Yes," I responded a little hesitantly, I wasn't sure where he was going with this "Were they the ones that you could never quite figure out if they belonged in the truth or myth category?"

"Yes exactly!" He said as he flipped through the book. "Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and no matter how much research I did, in the end I found nothing to make the existence of Voltera definitive." He said and looked down. I knew Edward a bit too well, and failure was definitely not his forte. The fact that he never found anything substantial on this society ate him up from the inside, even though he tries to conceal it with his cold, expressionless mask he likes to put on when he is bottling up emotions.

"Do you think the dagger we have belongs to Voltera?" I asked in an attempt to derail his train of thought from that dark corner of his mind. It seemed to work, I could see a sparkle of excitement in his eyes at the prospect of a breakthrough not only for the sake of this case, but for himself as well.

"It's hard to say Bella," he said and got up. "Have I told you about them?" I shook my head "We should probably start there." He said more to himself than me. I watched him pace back and forth around his office for a bit as he tried to collect his thoughts.

"I should probably tell you that if these people are involved, you might as well give up on this case, because going after them would be going on a wild goose chase." He said as he sat next to me again, I was about to protest that statement, but he raised his hand to silence me. "Now I am not saying this because I want to discourage you, but because I have been there and I know, that you will find nothing on them, if the Volturi actually exist, they do a hell of a job to cover their tracks."

"Edward, I need to know what I could be dealing with here, tell me what you know about them." I said demanding some answers from him, not predictions of my failure.

"Voltera is a very interesting debate among historians today, it basically has the historical society split in half. 50% are sure of their existence and 50% write them off as an interesting myth." He said and chuckled, "as you know I didn't have much luck proving one side or the other."

"The stories surrounding Voltera date all the way back to ancient Greece, which is where we have pinned their point of origin. Through years and years of research by various historians we have been able to discover multiple stories and painting dating from their beginning to the end of the 19th century that describe or depict this society. Although these sources vary from one another, they all follow general patterns which have become associated with Voltera."

"General patterns? What are you talking about?" I asked trying to follow.

"Despite of differences here and there, all of the stories describe a group of people, wearing long robes decorated with certain symbols that seem to appear during significant moments through our history. There are paintings of them as well, usually incorporating objects associated with them as well, such as that dagger." He said and pointed to the page.

"So what do they want?" I asked, "And how is it that more people have not heard about them?"

"Once again, depends on who you ask." He said "There are theories raging from these people being record keepers who merely observe and maintain scrolls, to theories of them being peace keepers who show up during time of turmoil to bring back tranquility, and finally…" he said and hesitated "…that they are the puppeteers behind the curtain, causing events to happen. All of these theories have one thing in common. Regardless of the purpose of this alleged society, one thing is clear…whoever these people are, they are very powerful and extremely influential."

"Edward there is no way! If there was such powerful society…"

"Allegedly, Bella" he cut me off mid-sentence.

"_Allegedly! _If people with such influence existed, the bureau would know about it!" I said exasperated, only half believing what I was saying. Edward gave me a skeptical look "Edward lets be logical about this. The FBI would have records of powerful organizations that could sway the outcome of events!" he still didn't look convinced. "Okay fine, let's say that the FBI doesn't, surely if there is an organization dating back one thousand some years the CIA would've had some records and by now they would've been made public!" As I was arguing, I was hoping Edward had a counter argument because if he didn't then I would have no lead. _Not that this is much of one anyway, but better than nothing._

"Look, I told you you'll think this is crazy!" Edward said getting defensive "I was only trying to help you cover all bases. Clearly it has done nothing but waste our time." He made a motion to close the book and instinctively I grabbed his hand to stop him.

As soon as I did my head jerked up, only to meet his face inches from mine; his eyes, a piercing green, looked straight into mine. It's a funny thing, chemistry. Even after a year with no contact and after everything that happened between Edward and me; I could still feel an electric current spread through my body as I felt my hand on top of him. I hastily pulled my hand back and cleared my throat.

"Please don't stop," I said quietly "no matter how unbelievable what you are telling me is it clearly has some connection to what happened to Senator Newton. Even if it's not done by some ancient organization, clearly someone wants our attention brought to them." Edward said nothing for a bit and then just nodded slightly.

"Can you tell me more about the dagger?" I asked flipping back to the painting "It is very detailed, the engravings, the symbols, what do they mean?"

"When I first saw the dagger, I couldn't believe what I was seeing, Bella." He said slowly "You don't understand there has _never_ been any solid evidence connected to the Volturi. That is why I left you in such a hurry yesterday, I had to do some research and make sure that it was the exact object I thought it was. This dagger is one of the most notable items connected to them. It has appeared in many stories about them, and almost always appears in paintings in which they have made an appearance."

I listened carefully, secretly a little elated that from the sounds of things Edward spent the evening in the library and not in Kate's bedroom. _Stop it!_ I mentally slapped myself. _These are the kind of thoughts you need to be avoiding!_

"Look at these symbols" he pointed to the dagger "Greek letters." He said and read out "'discorcia' in English it means discord. This is part of the reason some think the Volturi are trouble makers and why other think they prevent trouble."

"I don't understand."

"The whole thing about the Volturi is that their organization is very much surrounded by all these themes of discord. Look over here," he pointed to the 'V' on top of the handle "as you might have thought this V stands for Voltera, but it's also the roman numeral 5, which is a historically significant number especially if you are studying secret societies, it's a number associated with evil and discord; quite significant to pagan beliefs as well, the pentagram etc." He looked up for a moment to see if I was following. "It also represents the hierarchy of Voltera leaders. As far as we have been able to deduct from all of our sources it is said that the organization is made up of many members but there is one supreme leader on top of the pyramid who has a council of four supreme members. As far as we know it's patriarchal, the five leaders pass their position to their eldest sons. It is said that not even the direct family of the council members know of their involvement in Voltera."

"Wait, I thought you just said they pass it on within the family." I said a bit confused.

"Yes they pass it on when they feel the oldest son is ready, until then, he is kept out of the loop along with his mother and other direct and extended family."

"What happens if they have no sons?" I asked more as a joke than a serious question.

"As far as we have been able to figure out, there might be some sort of a vote among the council and I believe in that case they extend it to brothers or male nephews of council members. Like I said earlier, this is mostly speculation, nothing about these people is certain, hate to bring it up again, but _they_ as a whole are not certain, I could be sitting here telling you a complete myth."

I shook my head trying to get away from that conclusion "Right, let's say for argument's sake that they are for real. Why are they choosing to make themselves known now?"

Edward shrugged, "I couldn't tell you, this situation defies their patterns and their keen interest on completely and fully covering their tracks. They are not ones to make a spectacle of themselves, regardless of whether they are causing or preven…" Edward stopped mid-sentence and looked straight at me. I could see his eyes widen and I could feel the adrenaline begin to rush through my veins. I knew what he was about to say before he even said it.

"Whoever is doing this is going to do it again." I said reading his mind, he nodded.

"I just thought about something we spoke about earlier! The number five! Everything Voltera does, it does in fives! You should expect to see four additional killings, Bella." He said and closed the book, knowing that he has nothing further he can tell me and that he had just confirmed my most dreaded suspicion.

I knew that even if everything Edward and I discussed was complete bullshit the last statement he made was true. I had a serial killer on my hands and whoever he or they are, they needed to be stopped.

"What can I do?" I asked my voice betraying my composure.

"There is nothing you can do." He said and for once his eyes expressed nothing but deep sympathy for me. The cold and distant man who despised me two days ago was gone and in that brief moment, I had the old Edward, the one who use to be my rock through every obstacle. "You have to wait for them to make another move.

"I can't do that, Edward!" I said as I got up and started pacing back and forth through his office "I can't let another person die, not on my watch!"

"You haven't got much of a choice," he said as he watched me "I can assure you of one thing, if this is done by Voltera, you are dealing with extremely powerful men, so even if you stumble on a lead they will never let you carry on the right track!"

"What are you saying!"

"I am saying you shouldn't get involved with this!" he said "They are clearly not afraid to take drastic measures."

"Don't be ridiculous, Edward!" I waved that notion off angrily "Dealing with psychopaths is my job! I can handle them!"

"Bella, you don't know what you are getting yourself into! Hunting to expose members of an organization like that is not like anything you have done before!" he was getting anxious trying to make me see reason.

"Five minute ago you doubted their existence, Edward, now they are the devil incarnate? Not to mention that if it's them, they clearly want people to know who they are!"

"Yes, they might want people to be aware of their existence, not for you to try and reveal their identities! Jesus, Bella, be reasonable!"

"Whoever has done this has taken the life of a senator Edward! This case could make or break my career; I'm not going to pawn it off to someone else because you have a bad feeling about this!"

In two strides Edward was in front of me, his eyes smoldering with anger. He grabbed my arms and shook me.

"I need you to listen to me for once in your life Bella!" he said anger lacing his voice "You are planning to dive into dangerous waters and it could cost you your _life_, all of a sudden, I am not comfortable with all this!"

"I'm willing to take that risk, Edward, it's my job!" I hissed back at him.

"Well, _I _am _NOT_ willing to take that risk!" he all but yelled at me.

I was momentarily taken aback by what he said and could not form a reply. We just stood there glaring at each other, breathing heavily from the anger coursing through our veins. His hands still held a tight grip on my arms. As much as I hated to admit it, the tension from a few seconds ago very quickly turned into raw desire and all I wanted was to pull him closer and let him take me right on his desk. There was something incredibly sexy about passionately angry Edward.

Right at that moment, I heard my phone ring, grateful that it interrupted my self-destructive train of thought. It rang a few times and I felt Edward loosen his grip on my arms and I walked over to my bag to answer the call.

"Swan," I said as I picked up the phone, my eyes still fixed on Edward.

"_Bella, you are okay!" _she said relieved.

"Of course I'm okay, Angela, why wouldn't I be?" I said and I saw Edward furrow his eyebrows in confusion, I shook my head mouthing 'don't know'

"_There has been a break in!" _Angela said anxiously.

"A break in? Where?"

"_He broke into your house, Bella" _my eyes widened as I heard that.

"Has anything been taken?" I asked already knowing the answer to that question.

"_Only one thing…" _Angela said

"The dagger." I said more as a statement than a question. Angela didn't respond. "I'll be there in thirty, try to see if you can find any fingerprints or traces of whoever did this." With that I hung up.

"What is it?" Edward asked looking at me with concern, all of the anger from earlier completely gone.

"I've got to go." I said and grabbed my bag, really didn't want to tell Edward about this, not after the conversation we just had.

"Was your house broken into Bella?" he asked from behind me as I made my way out. I looked over my shoulder and nodded.

"I'll drive you." Was all he said as he put his coat on and walked towards me.

"You don't have to, I'll hail a cab."

"Bella, you do know what this means right?" I knew exactly what it meant, it meant that whoever was involved with this crime knew where I live but more importantly, it meant that the dagger was an important clue into our investigation.

"We'll discuss all that later, now I just need to get back to my house." I said as I gave him a pleading look to drop it for the time being.

"Okay, fair enough." Was all he said, and both of us got in his car and drove off toward my house.

The man in the shadow slowly exhaled the cigarette smoke, as he watched Edward and Bella drive away. He took the cell phone out of his pocket and redialed the last number.

The phone rang a couple of times and someone on the other end picked up.

"The artifact has been retrieved. Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen are on their way back to her house. I await further instructions."

The line cut off. The man took another drag from his cigarette and his phone flashed with a new text message

_Caius is to initiate his task_

_Ensure that he completes it. _

_-V-_

The man took another drag of his cigarette and deleted the text message he received. He walked down toward the main road and hailed a cab.


End file.
